Alaska Salmon Harvest Nears 5 Million Fish

Commercial harvests of Alaska’s wild salmon have expanded statewide, with total deliveries nearing 5 million fish, including nearly 3 million sockeyes.

Preliminary harvest figures compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game show that in the westward region, processors in the Alaska Peninsula have received 950,000 humpies, 883,000 sockeyes, 134,000 chums and fewer than 1,000 cohos.

In Prince William Sound, including the Copper River district, the harvest has reached 1,062,000 chums, 632,000 reds and 11,000 kings, while in Cook Inlet, 53,000 reds and 3,000 kings have been delivered.

Harvests are picking up in Bristol Bay, where processors have received 100,000 reds in the Egegik district, 73,000 reds in the Nushagak district, 21,000 reds in the Ugashik district, 10,000 reds in the Naknek-Kvichak district and under 1,000 reds in the Togiak district.

Chum harvests on the Lower Yukon River have jumped, with deliveries of some 89,000 fish, and in Southeast Alaska deliveries include some 88,000 kings, 22,000 chums, 13,000 reds, 1,000 cohos and fewer than 1,000 humpies.

ADF&G updates preliminary commercial salmon harvests online daily.

As more areas of the state deliver more salmon, prices at retail counters are dropping. Fred Meyer stores in the Anchorage area this week are offering fresh wild Alaska sockeye salmon fillets for $9.99 a pound.